By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Podcas Book
BBC - Guardian UK - Honduras - ESPN
SDNY / UN GATE, Nov 20 – With Central America on the agenda of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken June 1-2, 2021 in Costa Rica, Inner City Press on May 27 asked Department of State Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs Acting Assistant Secretary Julie J. Chung about the Administration's approach to Honduras.
Now on November 20, this trip announcement: "Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian A. Nichols will visit Tegucigalpa, Honduras from Sunday, November 21 through Tuesday, November 23, 2021. In Tegucigalpa, he will meet with Honduran Government leaders, National Electoral Council leadership, as well as representatives of Honduran civil society and the business community. Through these engagements, Assistant Secretary Nichols will relay U.S. support for Honduras’ democratic institutions and encourage the peaceful, transparent conduct of free and fair national elections on November 28. USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean, Mileydi Guilarte, will join Assistant Secretary Nichols on the trip."
The president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez, was repeatedly referred to by DOJ prosecutors as involved in narco-trafficking during the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York trials of his brother, Tony Hernandez (sentenced to life plus 30 years) and Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez. For more on UN corruption and the SDNY, see new book "Belt and Roadkill," here
Acting Assistance Secretary Chung told Inner City Press that those leaders who will not tackle corruption will not be U.S. partners. While Inner City Press said thanks for the answer, how will the Administration cordon off its aid from use by the JOH government, which also used Facebook to game elections in the country? Podcast here.
From the US State Department transcript:
MODERATOR: Let’s go the line Matthew Russell Lee.
QUESTION: Sure. Thanks a lot and thanks for taking the question. I had wanted to ask specifically about Honduras. There have been a series of cases in the Southern District of New York where the brother of the president, Juan Orlando Hernandez, his brother Tony was convicted of drug trafficking. And in the most recent trial, his name came up repeatedly as “CC-4,” seemingly involved in the trafficking. So I’m wondering – I know there’s a general concern with corruption and countries being sort of involuntarily subject to drug trafficking, but what’s the State Department’s thought of how to ensure that that aid to Honduras isn’t used by the current government? Or what’s your thinking on this? Thanks a lot.
MS CHUNG: Yes, well, we take any allegations of criminal activity very seriously. I won’t speak to the specifics of the DOJ case, but combating corruption and impunity, those are really at the center of the President’s priorities in the region and how to address the root causes of irregular migration. So we have said very clearly that any leader unwilling to tackle corruption will not be considered a close U.S. partner, and we take that very seriously. And so we want to have these conversations ongoing with, again, not just the governments but all stakeholders in the region. And we also want to use this opportunity in this multilateral format to see how countries can look for these regional challenges and come up with regional solutions together as well.
The answer stands in contrast with the United Nations, which after under Antonio Guterres have propped up JOH when he stole the election the last time has refused all of Inner City Press' questions, even in writing, and continues to ban it from entering the UN, now for the 1335th day. Something must change.
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